


Commanders

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Book 3: Fire, Canon Compliant, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 23:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12592928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: “When we first ended up on Kyoshi Island last Winter, it didn’t seem like there were a lot of women older than you.”“That’s because there’s not.” She keeps her voice level, but Sokka recognizes how she is almost too nonchalant, how her lips purse slightly. It’s exactly how he gets whenever he thinks too much about home.He probably shouldn’t say more. If he were a good boyfriend, or even just a goodpersonreally, he wouldn’t say more. But curiosity has a funny way of constantly seeming to one-up him, and Dad had to run off again to who-knows-where, and, even though he’ll never let it show to the others, it’s starting to feel to him like they’re all living at the end of the world anyway. “Why? Where’d they all go?”Sokka, Suki, and the burdens of command.





	Commanders

**Author's Note:**

> ElfKid2.0 prompted me to write a fic about Sokka's reaction to little kids not having to fight in the Siege of the North. This isn't really that, but certainly came out of that line of thinking. I hope you enjoy!

“Can I ask you something?” Sokka says to her. It’s a pleasant summer night, clear and hot—the Fire Nation is so _hot_ , he doesn’t understand how Zuko grew up here—and Yue and her reflection stare back at the two of them from the ocean as he and Suki sit on the beach.

Everyone else has gone to sleep. Aang only reluctantly and at Katara’s insistance, because she and all of them can see the building tension in his muscles, the growing strain in his ever-rarer smiles, as Sozin’s comet approaches in just over a week now. Zuko and Toph made the two of them swear to wake them in a few hours for a shift change, but Sokka at least doubts that _he_ will. According to Zuko, this is a deserted tiny island, and no one is likely to find them. And even if that weren’t true, Sokka is thinking of home, of Dad, of all those little boys he would have led into battle once upon a time, so he’s probably not going to sleep tonight anyway. No need to bother anyone else. 

“Sure,” says Suki, turning her head from the sea to face him. 

“When we first ended up on Kyoshi Island last Winter, it didn’t seem like there were a lot of women older than you.”

“That’s because there’s not.” She keeps her voice level, but Sokka recognizes how she is almost too nonchalant, how her lips purse slightly. It’s exactly how he gets whenever he thinks too much about home. 

He probably shouldn’t say more. If he were a good boyfriend, or even just a good _person_ really, he wouldn’t say more. But curiosity has a funny way of constantly seeming to one-up him, and Dad had to run off again to who-knows-where, and, even though he’ll never let it show to the others, it’s starting to feel to him like they’re all living at the end of the world anyway. “Why? Where’d they all go?”

She looks up at him sadly. “A vast majority of the women of Kyoshi Island are Warriors, Sokka.”

“So?”

Suki turns her head away. “You do the math.”

“But I thought you guys mostly stayed out of the War.”

“We did. But it’s never just been the War for us. We’re a small island village. And a lot of people in the Southern Earth Kingdom are poor and desperate and strong and think we’re an easy target. Why do you think we pounced on you three so quickly when you came?” She pauses. “When Zuko showed up, he just burnt down the village. A lot of people have done a lot worse.”

“And it’s all on you to stop them.”

She shrugs. “I was the oldest one left after the last bad raid. It’s just how it is.”

Sokka nods. “Do you ever think about the kids you’re leading into battle?”

“Of course I do. When we were taken prisoner by the Fire Nation, I was more worried about them than anything else. I think maybe that’s why they separated me from them—because they knew that if they were gonna try to break me, that would be the only way to do it.” She pauses. “But it’s not about me, Sokka, or even about my girls. Our village is greater than all of us. And once we decided to help with the war effort, the people we were fighting for were certainly more important than any one of us. All my girls understand that.”

“It doesn’t make it any easier though.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Suki agrees.

“When my dad left, he left me in charge of protecting the Tribe. When I think about it now, I don’t really think he meant it, but it was all I had, so I clung to it.” Sokka closes his eyes. “I was thirteen, and there weren’t any other boys even close to my age. They were all so young. Three years old. Four. Five. And I was going to make them into warriors. I felt like I had to. But _they_ didn’t want that. They were too young to understand what it even meant! They were too young to feel like protecting the village was more important than any of them—there was hardly a village left to protect anyway.” He pauses. “But I would have led them into battle. When Zuko came, I was getting ready to lead all those little kids into battle. If Aang hadn’t come back, I would have, and then…I almost…they would’ve…” He closes his eyes, shakes his head. 

Suki lays her hand on his.

“But you know, what really gets me,” Sokka continues. “Is that there are places where little kids _aren’t_ forced to go into battle. The Fire Nation, okay fine, because they’re the Fire Nation. But when we were in the North, and the Fire Nation came to attack, there were enough men that they could ask for _volunteers_. And I was probably the _youngest_ person to volunteer. I’m fifteen years old and the youngest to volunteer! They had all these little boys who didn’t even have to _consider_ going out to fight. And that shouldn’t make me mad. I should be _happy_ , right, that there are lives that the Fire Nation hasn’t totally messed up. But…why _us_? Why do other people get to have childhoods and parents but not us?” He pauses again, and then turns to look at her. “I’m sorry. Your Warriors—I didn’t even think—we should go back for them.”

Suki shakes her head. “The best thing we can do for them now is help Aang to end the War. All my girls know that. And if it had come to it, your boys would have grown to know that too."

 _If any of them would have survived,_ Sokka thinks to himself, cynically.

But subtly has never been a strong suit of his, and Suki _gets_ him, even if they haven't known each other that long, can read him like a scroll. "They _would_ have grown to know that too," she repeats. "But they won’t have to now. That’s the gift you’re giving them, Sokka. It’s the best gift you _could_ give them.”

He nods, grips her hand. Neither of them will sleep tonight—but neither of them will have to be alone either. And for that, he thanks the Spirits.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


End file.
